Development
The first U.S.G.L.-sponsored Kaaba Colloquium was held in Indianapolis, Indiana. It was expressly authorized through the Electoral College—who have "full control over the affairs of the Men of Earth"—and the USGL Kaaba Committee was chaired by an Electoral College member from 2002 - 2012, and maintains at least one Elector as a member of the team by custom.
The Kaaba effort got off to a brisk start with two "and a half" sessions that first formal year. The Kaaba event at NOTOCON IV was a half-day sampler (a.k.a. "Kaaba Lite") that represented under a third of the material that would typically be included in a two-day weekend seminar. From 2003 - 2019, Kaaba Colloquia were conducted twice per year, in deliberately varying regions of the country (go here to see the locations on a map) until interrupted by the COVID-19 Pandemic in 2020.
The Kaaba Colloquia in 2003ev and 2004ev based their content primarily on a survey of local officers regarding the topics they most desired to be addressed. Another factor was the particular expertise and interests of the Committee members and guest presenters. At Salem in 2005ev, the Kaaba Committee had a major planning session, in which a more ambitious approach was undertaken: to meet the expressed desires of local body officers and to provide a full range of information that U.S.G.L. governing officers considered helpful and/or necessary to local officers. This change provoked other essential modifications. There would be too much material to cover in the allotted time, especially when providing for important Q&A sessions, so "double-tracking" was introduced, under which two presentations would run simultaneously in separate rooms. At this point, a shift was also inaugurated to move responsibility for funding the meeting spaces and administering attendee registrations to the Kaaba Committee, whereas previously they had been handled by the hosting local bodies.
The "double-tracking" shift was a complete success, but the Kaaba Committee further refined that after the Kaaba Colloquium held in Philadelphia, to form what is now called "Kaaba 3", which has "double-tracking" based upon the experience level of the attendee on the first day and on the developmental level of the local body on the second day. This refinement had really enabled bodies to get the most out of their Kaaba experience, by splitting their attendees between the two tracks based on their needs. Exceed! Exceed!
After many successful years, the Kaaba Committee of the Electoral College became an independent program of U.S.G.L., though both continue to work in conjunction to support the officers of the local bodies and those who aspire to the leadership path.
The Kaaba Colloquium program includes representatives of numerous teams across U.S.G.L., including multiple members of the Strategic Planning Office, the Education Committee, the Families Committee, past and current Electors, the Volunteer Coordinator, initiators, clergy, past NOTOCON planners, and numerous experienced past masters. Due to this, if an attendee has an issue, we hope to be able to address it at the moment or find an answer quickly.
As has always been our custom, the presentation topics are constantly evolving in response to the planning demands of U.S.G.L. as well as the growing sophistication of local bodies. During the long break for the quarantine, many things changed in how U.S.G.L. functions, and our materials must therefore also evolve. To that end, the Kaaba Program team is taking a planning retreat in November of 2022 and will return to the road with an all-new program in 2024ev.